Kiith Somtaaw
|image = Kiith Somtaaw preBeast.jpg |members = Teigor Somtaaw,Kuura Somtaaw |locations = The Shimmering Path,Hameln,Gydeo |returned = yes }} Kiith Somtaaw was a major religious kiith while living on Kharak. After their return to Hiigara, the Somtaaw made their living mining metal and became a heavily established warrior kiith after the events of the Beast War. History Kiith Somtaaw started life as the best known religious Kiith mostly because of the Shimmering Path, a complex of 33 temples finished in 178 KDS which was a place of pilgrimage for almost 1000 years. Until 261 KDS there was an unbroken Somtaaw lineage, and they held the position of the primary religious Kiith until the Heresy Wars. During this conflict the Khontala Mountains in which the Somtaaw had made their settlements, were a natural barrier between Kiith Siidim and Kiith Gaalsien, the major powers in this conflict. When war greatly reduced the number of pilgrims, it was no longer possible to maintain temples along The Shimmering Path, and in 675 KDS Somtaaw closed all but two of them to outsiders. Because of their naturally-defended location, it was difficult to conquer the Somtaaw, but it was also difficult to secure paths to their holdings. As a result, they became cut-off from all regular trade routes for nearly two centuries. By the year 789 KDS there were only 30,000 Somtaaw remaining. In this year, Kuura Somtaaw had a dream of Sajuuk driving a red sword into the earth in a rarely visited region of the Khontala mountains, and as a result ordered several families to dig in the Red Creek Valley. What they found was the richest iron ore ever seen on Kharak which lay just beneath the surface. They announced this news to the world, and received numerous offers of buying the mines or the ore it produced. Rather than simply trading the ore Kuura ordered the construction of smelters producing high grade steel, extremely valuable in times of war. Somtaaw steel became the most famous on Kharak, and eventually an agreement was made with the warrior Kiith Soban, who offered security for the Kasaar road, the main route out of the Khontala, for one hundred years in exchange for iron. A Soban contract of that length was unheard-of at that time. All but abandoning their religious heritage, Somtaaw became a mining Kiith. In 810 KDS when Kiith Naabal entered the war, Somtaaw expanded their mining operations thanks to usage of steam and explosives. With a population of 500,000 souls till the Exodus, but only 15,000 Somtaaw arrived onboard the Kushan Mothership. Upon the discovery of the Khar-Toba, Somtaaw were asked to reopen the Shimmering Way so that their religious texts could be examined, but they initially refused. The issue was still being debated in the Diamaid when Kharak was burned by the Taiidan. Post Hiigaran Landfall 7 years after the Hiigaran Landfall, Kiith Naabal made a request to absorb Kiith Somtaaw, claiming that Somtaaw skills in mining would be better-used when working under Naabali industrial planning committees, and that such a merger would be in the best interest of all Hiigarans. Somtaaw refused the offer, but the debate lasted for a long time, eventually incorporating the issue of smaller Kiithid not being allowed access to the Mothership, now being used as an orbital shipyard. As a sign of support, many small kiithid joined Somtaaw, almost doubling their population in just a few months. With the backing of Kiithid Paktu and Soban the matter was resolved in favor of Somtaaw, who also managed to gain access to the Mothership construction facilities for a period of 6 months. Three ships were built during that time: The ''Explorer''-class command ships Kuun-Lan and Faal-Corum, designed for deep-space mining operations, and Clee-San, a dedicated science ship. However, despite their new capabilities the larger Kiithid regularly 'forgot' to thank Somtaaw for assistance. After the incursion of Taiidan Imperialist Faction forces to Hiigara in 15 AHL, Kuun-Lan was dispatched to rescue a Kiith Manaan destroyer, Bushan-Re, that was stranded outside the Hiigara System. In the process, they discovered an artifact. Analysis yielded that the device was built by no known galactic races and as such probably held great, unknown technology. The ruling Somtaaw council decreed that this would give them great leverage in the new Hiigaran government, and ordered that the Kuun-Lan keep this a secret within Somtaaw. The Kuun-Lan then met up with the Clee-San, and they opened the device up for analysis. However, the artifact contained part of the organism known as the Beast. The infection rapidly spread, forcing the ship to jettison its entire lower section. The Beast War This is how the Beast War begun, the conflict in which Kiith Somtaaw played the most notable role fighting the Beast threat. During this time Somtaaw developed a number of new technologies, some based upon those used by other races. As a result of the Beast War, Somtaaw became a true Warrior Kiith, earning the title of "Beast Slayers". 100 years after the Beast War, Kiith Somtaaw was opposed to re-activating the Hyperspace core in the face of the Vaygr threat. Ships and Technology The Somtaaw are a resourceful people, and to this end their technology is based on designs created using any sources they can find, be it purchased from the Bentusi, adapted from old designs collecting dust in their engineering libraries, reverse-engineered from salvaged derelicts or even all three in conjunction. Their ships tend to combine many features into one, such as the Worker-class which functions as a Salvage Corvette, Repair Corvette and Resource Collector, as their smaller command ships cannot support larger fleets of individually specialized ships. After the Beast War they possess technology that even the far-more developed Kiith did not have, such as force-field generators, the unique electromagnetically-based repulsor generator defensive system, microships, advanced hull plating and splitter-technology for Ion Cannons. Having been heavily reconfigured during the war their main command ship, the Kuun-Lan, ended up being among the most powerful and deadliest warships among all of the Hiigaran Kiith at that time. List of Somtaaw Ships Sources *Homeworld: Cataclysm *Homeworld: Cataclysm Manual *Homeworld 2 Strategy Guide Category:Lore: Kiith de:Somtaaw ru:Киит Сомтау